For more information:

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Denver voters are being asked to eliminate the 3-person Denver Election Commision and create a new elected Clerk & Recorder who will oversee elections.

The arguments against the change just don't make sense.

Does it increase the power of the mayor? No. It does just the opposite. It creates a powerful watchdog who will be a check on the mayor's negligence that we saw last fall.

Is it unfair to the minority party? No. It will not be any harder for the minority party to elect a Clerk & Recorder than it is now to elect an Election Commission member.

Should we vote no because this change will not directly effect the problems with last fall's election disaster? No, this is just a first step towards fixing the problems for the 2008 elections.

When I was studying for my MBA at the University of Denver, I was taught the management principle called "unity of command". Oversight of the elections is a management job, and one person will do a better job than three. Too many cooks spoil the soup.

Vote yes and encourage your friends and neighbors in Denver who care about better elections to do the same.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Vote Yes in Denver

I emailed this out to my online friends last night:

My friend Dennis Gallagher called me tonight,urging a yes vote on the question now beforewe Denver voters regarding a change to anelected clerk & recorder who will be in chargeof future elections, instead of the 3 personelection commission we have now.

Dennis says this will give us some accountability,and that we should vote yes in spite of the fact thatthe Denver political establishment has joined ranksagainst the change.

I agree with Dennis. If you live in Denver, please voteyes and encourage your Denver friends to do the same.

It is clear that what we have now just doesn't work.Too many chefs spoil the soup!

John

This morning a couple of friends emailed me that thechange would not really fix the problem, which is true.I sent this email in response to one of them, who is also a friend of Bill W.:

You raise good points. This whole mess shows once againthat our system of government is the worst except for all the rest!

The proposal seems to me to be progress, but certainly it is notperfection! May be just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic,but given the choices of yes, no or trash my ballot, seems to me the best choice is yes.

Life is not easy, is it. Let's keep doing the little we can each day totry and be helpful, trusting that with God's help it is enough!

I'm still at York Street, really need to rotate out of the job. Do you knowanyone who might like to take it on? http://orgsites.com/co/yorkstreetclub.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

I attended the GOP dinner & pep talk from Dick Wadhams last Friday night. It had special significance for me since it was a building my father built, 6265 E. Evans.

It was the most positive GOP event I've attended in many years. It seems to me Dick will make a big, big differece in attendance at the 2008 GOP neighborhood caucuses and the elections that fall. With his leadership we should be able to make Colorado a red state once again!

The Denver Post seems to agree, this is on their editorial page today:

GOP party post goes to a pro

He was urged to run for state Republican party chairman by GOP politicians of every stripe. He upstaged Sen. Wayne Allard at Allard's own retirement announcement, and even though his most recent client went down in flames (and cost Republicans control of the U.S. Senate), Colorado GOP leaders are treating him as a conquering hero returning to his roots.

Can one man save the Colorado GOP? What if that one man is Dick Wadhams?

Wadhams, the local political consultant who went national, is running for state party chair. Insiders ooze with excitement, talking about Wadhams as a "nuts and bolts kind of a guy" who can unite and energize an organization in disarray.

The task will be considerable. Wadhams will inherit a party fractured along multiple fault lines. Aside from traditional schisms between social conservatives and business-oriented Republicans, there are divisions on state fiscal issues (starting with Referendum C) and such matters as abortion and same-sex marriage. More generally, the party has fallen out of step with the Colorado majority.

In just over two years, the GOP lost control of the state House and Senate, the governor's mansion, a Senate seat, two congressional seats and the treasurer's office. In 2008, the party at risk of losing its remaining Senate seat and presidential electoral votes that Republicans have held in every election but one since 1968.

Wadhams is a campaign manager by trade, and as GOP chair, the Allard Senate seat will be his first order of business. He'll have to operate at a time when the power of state parties has been weakened by reforms that shift big campaign money away from the parties to 527 groups, which operate independently.

As party chair, Wadhams will be allowed only limited interaction with the 527s. He can alert them to information that's already in the public domain, but of course so can your aunt and uncle. Anything that involves "expenditures" is off-limits by law. And "almost anything can be considered an expenditure because you're using resources to accomplish a task at hand," said state GOP attorney John Zakhem.

Wadhams says the GOP can be unified if Republicans return to their roots as defenders of small government, fiscal conservatism and private property rights.

"The Republican Congress went awry and we paid the price," Wadhams said, referring to the thumping that Democrats gave Republicans last November. "Sometimes those purges aren't bad."

Wadhams' own candidate, Sen. George Allen of Virginia, was among those who went down for the count.

With no opposition, Wadhams will take over the GOP reins in March. The work is already piling up.

Ads and Twitter Feeds Here Not Endorsements!

Advertisements on this site are sold by Google, I post things I don't agree with for purposes of discussion, and nothing on this site should be taken as a sign of endorsement by me. If you have any question about this, please call John Wren, (303)861-1447.

John Wren's Daring Mighty Things-- The Simplest Way to Start Your First (or Next) New Business.

Search on Amazon.com John Wren Daring

John Wren is the founder & CEO of Small Business Chamber of Commerce, Inc.

click on picture to go to SBCC.

GUEST ON SPECIAL EDITION?

Do you have a compelling story about startup that you'd be willing to share on SPECIAL EDITION The Startup Show?

Here is what we ask you to do to become a guest on the show:

Post a short (one sentence is best) introduction or news about you and your business and link to your URL. Then make sure I consider you as a guest, call me at (303)861-1447 if you don't hear from me in a day or two.

After you've posted your intro, be an active participant on our Facebook Page. http://Facebook.com/Small.Business.Chamber "Like" and "Share" the Page, comment on what others have posted. Encourage your Facebook friends to do the same. Help make it a 24/7 resource for startups and small business, and you'll help make it a good tool for you to use when you have an announcement.

John Wren (720)495-4949

AMDG + Start + Grow + Flourish.

Ads here does not imply endorsement or approval. SBCC cooperates with local chambers to provide more real help to just start. IDEA Salons & Workshops. For more click on logo or go to .SmallBizChamber.org

John S. Wren, MBA+

Ads here on this site from Google, does not mean they have my endorsement. Want to know my opinion? Call now, let's talk about how I can help you. Contact me now, while it is on your mind, at (720)495-4949

People are talking about the IDEA Cafe:

"like the group and leader a lot."

— Mike O'Neil

"If you need help figuring out what to do next, or not sure where to go or how to approach your business, this is definitely the group for you!"

— Andrea

"John Wren is an inspiration and leader in the Denver Business Community. He truly has a giving spirit sharing his years of varied and successful experience with new (and emerging) business owners. His IDEA cafe is truly a gift!"

-- Susan Roberts,ActionCOACH

Brainstorming?

5280 Magazine on John Wren and IDEA Cafe:

Every Friday for the last 10 years, local business consultant John Wren has infused the city with entrepreneurial spirit by hosting Idea Cafe, a conversation group for anyone starting a new career, business, or campaign.